Haunted House Ookiku Furikabutte
by eskamobob21
Summary: It's almost Halloween and Abe sees Tajima, Hanai, Izumi, and Mihashi looking into the Gym. Tajima goes in to check out what the 2nd year students are doing for the festival and the rest need to get him out before he wrecks everything. Yaoi-ish


Abe was surprised to see some of his fellow teammates gathered outside of the gymnasium. The second year students from classes 1-3 had combined their resources and decided to make a massive haunted house in the gym for the cultural festival. There was much talk about how amazing the house was going to be and with all of the commotion and secrecy, Abe was curious as to what the place looked like. He had decided that since it was a Friday night and classes were cancelled the next day so that each class could work on their projects, which left Abe with some free time tonight.

Mihashi, Tajima, Hanai, and Izumi were all standing around the front doors to the gym. "I wonder what's in there," Hanai said. Everyone murmured in agreement.

"Yo," Abe greeted his fellow teammates and silently noted that both Mihashi and Hanai jumped at the sudden greeting.

"Oh, hey Abe-kun," Izumi said. "I guess you heard about the second year's exhibit as well huh." Abe nodded. "Yeah," continued Izumi, "Tajima was telling us about it in class today and dragged us as well as Hanai here after practice."

Abe laughed to himself but didn't let it show. If both Mihashi and Hanai jumped at Abe's voice, maybe Tajima really did literally drag the two of them here. "So, can you guys see anything through the windows?" Abe asked.

"Not really. They blocked it off pretty well with paper," Hanai answered.

"Well that figures," Tajima said matter-of-factly. "If they want to make it spooky then they need to keep it relatively dark in there." Tajima grabbed the handle of the door that was not closed all the way and pulled it open. "Besides, I really wanted to have a look around."

The 3rd basemen disappeared inside before anyone had a chance to stop him. Hanai, Izumi, and Abe looked at each other. Someone had to go in after him or else who knows what the boy could do. He had the unbridled energy of a speed addict and the curiosity and brains of a three year old and besides, Abe wanted to look around inside too.

"Well it looks like we need to go after him. Who knows what kind of trouble he could get in to," Abe said.

"M-maybe he'll b-be fine," Hanai protested. Abe noticed that he really didn't like this idea.

Thankfully for Abe Izumi chimed in. "Come on, Hanai-kun. You know Tajima. We have to stop him from destroying everything at the very least."

Abe glanced over at Mihashi. The pitcher had been completely quiet since Abe came and it started to make Abe wonder. Mihashi had grown a lot more comfortable around Abe and the others but he still was not cured of his social awkwardness and low self esteem. Abe had had to comfort a devastated Mihashi after they lost in the semifinals at Koshien. Mihashi blamed himself for the loss and it took Abe four days to convince Mihashi that it wasn't his fault he passed out and had to go to the hospital, it was Abe's for not realizing how fatigued and completely stressed out Mihashi was.

Mihashi was fidgeting and squirming like he normally did and Abe got the idea that Mihashi didn't like haunted houses either. But that was not Abe's fault. If Mihashi didn't want to go with them then Mihashi didn't have to. He could just as well head home. Abe decided that whatever Mihashi did was up to him and so Abe followed Izumi into the gym. To Abe's surprise both Hanai and Mihashi followed Abe and Izumi into the gym.

Nishiura's gym was much bigger than a normal sized gym, and the maze configuration that the second years came up with made the entire place seem downright massive. Unfortunately Tajima was nowhere in sight at the front of the maze which meant he had tried to explore the maze on his own. Thankfully the security lights were still on in the gym which provided some light, but the dim light and Halloween decorations gave Abe a sense of dread because there was just enough light to cast creepy shadows and illuminate the decorations _meant_ to scare people. It was like being in a haunted house in prime scaring conditions. Even the atmosphere felt scared.

"Well it looks like he decided to go into the maze, that idiot. Looks like we'll have to wait for him to come out," Hanai said with a hopeful upturn to his voice.

Abe looked at him quizzically and without saying a word continued into the maze. "Tajima, where are you?" He hollered once in the maze.

"It's not funny, we shouldn't be in here," Izumi continued.

The maze itself had some pretty good props set up. If the mood was a little better and Abe was a little more panicked he might actually get scared at what was going on. Everything seemed so real; like the graves on either side of the path might open at any time, or like the body parts scattered around the cemetery were real, or the shack up ahead might actually have something in it. But Abe thought that something about that shack did look a little funny. The group followed the path until they were right in front of the shack where the path curved off in another direction. Abe couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with that shack and now that the group was right in front of it his gut feeling was rewarded. A figure in all black jumped out of the shadows of the shack. This figure had slicked back hair, a cape, and fangs that were visible in the dim light. Everyone in the group, including Abe and Izumi who were much braver than Mihashi and Hanai, jumped at the sudden appearance of he rogue vampire.

"Ha ha! Blood!" The vampire yelled in a surprisingly creepy voice.

Before Abe or Izumi could react Mihashi had bolted around the corner and down the maze a bit. Abe was the first one to come to his senses and he followed closely behind Mihashi, following the same path but unable to catch up. It surprised Abe how fast Mihashi was when he was scared.

Back at the shack Izumi regained his senses. Mihashi and Abe were both gone but Izumi go the feeling that Abe had chased after Mihashi. What was really funny, at least to Izumi, was how big tough Hanai was petrified in fear at the 'vampire' that jumped out at them. It took a few seconds and Tajima's tactless laugh to snap Hanai out of his paralyses.

Izumi, seeing that Hanai was alright suddenly got the feeling that he should go search for Abe and Mihashi; at the very least leave these two alone. Izumi didn't know why, he just knew he had to.

"N-nice going, T-Tajima. N-now we're a-all alone in this c-creepy place," Hanai said sounding more scared than he wanted to.

"Blah! I'm going to suck your blood!" Tajima yelled, still oblivious to Hanai's nerves, or lack there of.

Hanai was starting to feel a little irritated. He wanted to get out of here. Hanai never liked haunted houses. "I'll give you something to suck," Hanai muttered trying to get his tough-guy posture back.

A devilish smile crossed Tajima's face. In a sly voice he said, "you know, it has been a while since we've had some alone time."

"Y-you don't mean…here…with them in here with us…" Hanai replied this time sounding even more horrified than he was before. If his teammates found out about the two of them, all hell would break loose.

"Come on," the smaller boy said grabbing Hanai by the hand, "there's a spot over here by a dead-end that I saw when I was wondering around earlier." Hanai could feel the calluses of his younger friend's hand. All of the months of practice and the long grueling games wore on the mind of the 5th hole batter. Hanai was glad to have someone special like Tajima. Tajima was a really amazing person. His sense for the game was better than anyone Hanai had ever met, and Tajima's stupidity was on a level superior to anyone, even Mihashi. At least Mihashi didn't open his mouth without thinking; even if Mihashi hardly ever spoke coherent sentences it was better than yelling out 'Masturbation!' on the bus with Shinooka on board. But either way, with the intensity of the summer tournament and the tragic but amazing semifinal finish, Hanai was more than grateful for being so close to Tajima, the boy who could make him smile no matter what. "Besides, at the very least we have time for a quickie!"

Izumi had heard the loud cleanup hitter as he led Hanai off in the direction the group had come from. After watching the team develop since the start of the season Izumi had noticed something strange in the behavior of his teammates. Abe and Mihashi was an obvious pair to what had to be everyone but themselves. Abe was always possessive with his pitcher and Mihashi wasn't exactly the best at hiding his feelings. The fact the two did not know how each other felt was amazing to Izumi. But what really surprised Izumi was how Hanai and Tajima started out as rivals both on the field and off and now were together. Hanai, the former cleanup hitter of a decent school and studious captain of the Nishiura club and Tajima, the current and better cleanup hitter of the Nishiura club and all around bad student were lovers.

Izumi decided that instead of trying to find everyone, it would be easier just to wait at the entrance. Izumi followed the path they were on back to the front doors of the gym, making sure to snap a mental photograph of Tajima and Hanai barely visible leaning up against the wall of maze. Those two really were good for each other. Izumi smiled as he thought that maybe Tajima could help Hanai loosen up a bit and Hanai could help get Tajima in line.

---------

Abe followed Mihashi through what had to be most of the maze before turning off the main path and into a dead end. Abe found Mihashi huddled behind a fake tombstone in another cemetery section. He was sitting in the fetal position with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head buried in his arms. Abe didn't know why his pitcher was in this position but one thing was certain: Abe could hear Mihashi sobbing.

It had been a while since Mihashi last broke out into tears, at least as far as Abe knew. The last time Mihashi had bawled in front of Abe was after Mihashi had collapsed in the semifinals during the summer tournament. Abe later found out that Mihashi was suffering from exhaustion and a good size ulcer. Even now almost a month later Abe still dreamed of Mihashi wobbling and unsteady on the mound until he puked up blood before falling over into what looked to Abe like a lifeless heap.

Abe knelt down to even his level with Mihashi. There was something wrong again with Mihashi and since the last incident Abe did not want Mihashi to have any reason to be scared of Abe any more. Mihashi meant the world to Abe. They were more than just teammates. They have become actual friends. Granted Abe still yelled at Mihashi for various reasons, but the two had opened up to each other real well and Abe did not want to loose all of the work he had put into his teammate, his friend.

"Mihashi, are you alright? What's bothering you?" Abe asked in as soft and gentle of a tone as he could manage. It worked.

Mihashi lifted his head and even in the dim light Abe could see that he was right. Mihashi's eyes had tears flowing down his cheeks. This was not about being scared of a Taji-pire anymore. This was something important.

"I…I, I'm s-sorry Abe-k-kun," Mihashi sobbed. "I s-shouldn't have r-run a-away from you g-guys."

Abe wasn't buying the story. At the beginning of the year Mihashi would have done this; he would have cried and sobbed over something like this. But not now, not after this much progress had been made. "Mihashi, what's really the matter?" Abe asked in the same quiet and easy tone. He had become quite good at this over the summer.

Mihashi looked at his catcher's face and decided it was safe to confide some of what was on his mind to Abe. They had, after all, become real friends. Mihashi paused for a few moments to compose himself and said, "I'm sorry, A-Abe-kun. At first I was frightened of Tajima and ran away but then I realized why I was really running. Abe-kun, I'm really really sorry that I ruined everyone's seasons. I collapsed and because of me we had to forfeit the game and end the summer." Mihashi looked down to the ground. He wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground and die. Mihashi had turned Nishiura into Mihoshi all over again. Because of his own selfishness he had ruined the team's season.

"M-Mihashi, you're wrong," Abe said through watery eyes. Abe had hoped that Mihashi understood that it was not Mihashi's fault that the season ended, nobody on the team thought that at all. Quite the opposite, everyone on the team realized that Mihashi was something special and without Mihashi's ability to place his pitches, this team would not have gotten as far as they did. "Nobody on the team is blaming you for what happened. Everyone agrees that without your pitching we would not have gotten this far. Besides," Abe took a deep breath to focus his thoughts. "Besides, I should have known something was wrong. I should have seen how tired you were, how much you hurt. I've spent hours studying your posture, your habits, studying you and still I didn't see anything wrong. I'm a failure as a catcher if I can't even tell when my pitcher, my friend, desperately…needs…me…" Abe trailed of into a stream of his own sobs and tears.

Mihashi was taken aback by this. Abe had said this to him before, while Mihashi was in the hospital and right after he got out, but Mihashi didn't put any stock into it. But now Mihashi saw how much his friend meant to him. Abe's words echoed in Mihashi's mind. Mihashi tried to fully understand what Abe had told him; that Abe was a failure, Abe had been studying him, that Abe really truly was his deep down friend. "Abe-kun, I don't think you're a failure. Without you I'm just a lousy pitcher with a slow fastball. You are the amazing one." Mihashi thought back to his days in the beginning at Nishiura and with Mihoshi, but then he thought about the end of the year as well. "You were the first to show me what a friend was like, how fun it could be to play baseball. Even with my childishness you still made an attempt at me. Abe-kun, you are the amazing one."

These words, Abe didn't know what they did to him but he liked it. "Mihashi, I wanted an Ace. To be honest, in the beginning I thought you were a troublesome guy with no self-esteem." Abe didn't want to say that and hated himself for it, but he had to get it off his chest. Mihashi had to know. "But as the season went on I was able to appreciate how much effort you put into the game. Even with all of the trouble you had had in your past and still had through out the season, you always gave it your all. Mihashi, you're an amazing person." Abe looked Mihashi straight in the eye. He had done this on many occasions but something seemed different about this time. There was something in Mihashi's eye that Abe felt tried to tell him something but Abe couldn't place what it was. "Mihashi, I think you're an amazing person, a great friend; more than a friend. Mihashi, I-"

"Abe-kun I love you." Mihashi didn't know what made him actually say it out loud. He secretly had feelings for his catcher since after the game against Mihoshi. After everything that the catcher tried to do, since the effort that Abe made both before the game when Mihashi was being confronted by Hatake, since after the game when his old teammates wanted him back. Mihashi saw all of this and started to at first like and then after the game against Tosei Mihashi started to secretly love his catcher without question. But now that he said it to his catcher, the object of his love, Mihashi now regretted saying it. Now that he said it, the consequences of his actions came to mind.

Abe couldn't believe what he just heard. Mihashi had just confessed to him. After the initial shock Abe was happy. Truth be told he was about to say the same thing. Abe had come to love Mihashi, not just the way he always gave everything his all, but just being around Mihashi made Abe happy. There was something about him that made Abe happy, made Abe finally for the first time in his life feel complete and warm.

Abe looked at his pitcher and smiled. Mihashi was squirming and fidgeting again but looked very worried. Abe knew why Mihashi was worried and decided to do something about it. In one quick move Abe held Mihashi's head steady with both hands and lent in and kissed his pitcher. When Mihashi's initial surprise gave way to reality and he started to return the kiss, Abe knew things were only going to get better. 'This is my gift to you, Mihashi. This is my gift for showing me that my gamble on coming to this school has paid off.'


End file.
